Bar suggestions for Roadini

[Maeve Gately]

Good afternoon from sunny New York! After a lot of deliberation, I am investing in my first Riv next weekend--going to Philly to pick up a Roadini. I originally wanted a Homer, but the new ones were out of my price range, and I was convinced by this group and Riv that the Roadini will be pretty close.

The one I am buying from the Philly owner has drop bars on it, and I want to ride upright. Any suggestions for bar styles? I see Riv does the Albatross for their build, but that those are out of stock. Would love guidance from the group

[David]

I recommend the albatross. They are in stock at other places. Soma Portman is nice and so is the Velo orange Porteur. 

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Sent from Canary

On Sunday, Apr 20, 2025 at 5:19 PM, Maeve Gately <maeve....@gmail.com> wrote:

Good afternoon from sunny New York! After a lot of deliberation, I am investing in my first Riv next weekend--going to Philly to pick up a Roadini. I originally wanted a Homer, but the new ones were out of my price range, and I was convinced by this group and Riv that the Roadini will be pretty close.

The one I am buying from the Philly owner has drop bars on it, and I want to ride upright. Any suggestions for bar styles? I see Riv does the Albatross for their build, but that those are out of stock. Would love guidance from the group

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[Nicolas H]

I run the Sycip Wonderbar and it's been great. 

https://www.somafabshop.com/shop/27878-sycip-wonder-bar-560mm-3255#attr=

Thanks,

Nic

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[Adrian]

VO Granola bars are very nice. Just make sure you've got a 31.8 stem.

Are you looking for something with some back sweep or less sweep? Swept back bars like the Ron's ortho bars, wavy bars, albatross bars come way back. Getaround bars from simworks aren't as swept back and are still upright.

I guess it depends on what you're looking for.

[Eric Karnes]

I have a MUSA Homer, which is very similar in geometry and tire size to the newer Roadinis. Two years back, I found a used Riv Wavie bar and bought it on a whim. It's still on there and I love it. Not a swept back as an Albatross or even a 45 degree Jones Bar, but enough that it's a really comfortable ride. I find I don't even really need to move my hands around much. Granted, I rarely ride more than 30 miles at a time, so if you are doing more all-day riding treks, you might need something with more hand positions. 

I've also used and enjoyed the VO Porteur bars, which someone above shouted out. And are good for people like myself with narrower shoulders. I have a plan to rebuild my SimpleOne with these and the Soma bar extenders, which allows for full-size grips and brake levers. 

[Jim in Mpls]

I've been liking the Choco bar on my Roaduno. I could see it being a good choice on a Roadini as well.

Jim

[Roberta]

Congratulations on your first Rivendell!!!  You might find this helpful for comparing handlebars:  https://whatbars.com

I have the Velo Orange Milan, similar to their Porteur bar but with a rise, on a non Riv bike for more upright riding without coming back too far.  I don’t know if either is right for your Roadini but on the right bikes, great bars without coming back too far. Here’s a link to VO’s flat and upright bar options:  https://velo-orange.com/collections/flat-and-upright-bars

Remember to post pics!

Roberta

Philadelphia 

[Dorothy C]

Congratulations Maeve and welcome to the group. I have several (!) Roadinis and can put in a vote for the Wavies as well.  For a more unusual build the Bullmoose work well too - find some examples on the Blue Lug customer build catalog, or my reply to another thread on this forum. 
My bullmooses are chopped by 1 centimeter each side. 

I am 5’6” with an 81 pbh. 

The only bar I would caution you against is the original width Losco, I had the 48cm, and when I tried it on the 47 cm with I think a 9 cm Tallux, it was too close and too narrow and would hit my thighs, even without bar ends, as I was mounting.

My current builds are 50cm lugged with Noodles, 50cm tigged with Wavies, and 47cm tigged with the aforementioned chopped Bullmoose. The latter bike is kind of a loaner bike now, since I have the other two of the right size. I originally bought the 47cm in 2020 when Riv were out of stock of the 50cm, but I couldn’t resist the orange color. My tigged one is orange too, but a slightly lighter shade, I got that one in 2022. 

[Dorothy C]

In case I haven’t shown these

[Maeve Gately]

What a beauty! Thanks Dorothy and all! Excited to join the group

[Maeve Gately]

And do you all use bar-end shifters with your Roadinis? Still learning the ropes here

[Jay]

Welcome!

I use downtube shifters with mine.  Love'em.  But everyone is different.  You may try one thing (bar, shifters) and change it up and find out you like something better.  That's the fun of it!

If you want a lot of sweep, the Albatross, Granola are nice (just match stem/bar clamp diameter).  I have VO Curvy on a non-riv and like them (30 sweep).  Also depends how and where you ride (meandering around town, whatever floats your boat; trails, or fast road rides, maybe something different).

[Eric Karnes]

I use one downtube shifter (front) and one handlebar-mounted thumbie (rear). It was unplanned and kind of randomly evolved that way, but I like it! e 

Eric

[Dorothy C]

Noodle equipped bike has a pair of downtubers, Bullmoose bike has two Sunrace thumbies, the front der bar mounted and the rear der stem mounted. The Wavie bike has two Silver thumbies, both stem mounted, one above the other. 

Of note, the Wavie and Bullmoose bars don’t fit bar end shifters. 

Riv have announced they are coming out with a new handlebar, probably later this year, that is described as part way between a Wavie and a Billie, which I assume will be bar end compatible. 

[Johnny Alien]

The benefit of using the DT position is that it makes future bar changes really easy by decoupling it from the bars. Get a faceplatter stem and you can swap to your heart's content

[Minh]

I use albatross bars, one small warning/FYI, if you do go swept back bars like albatross or Billie, consider bar mounted shifters instead of bar ends, because those bars reach back, adding bar end shifters can bump against your leg or catch on others things as they are sticking out of the end of the bar.